Moonlight: After Dark, Book 1
by Casey Redbird
Summary: After the pages stopped turning in BREAKING DAWN, ten years of happiness went by for the Cullens, but the darkness has returned and with it, the Volturi. Can they rise again and defeat the Volturi once and for all? Disclaimer: I don't own any of these beautiful characters, or TWILIGHT itself.
1. Chapter 1

**PREFACE**

**Love is truly the sweetest feeling. Your touch is like fire, even though my skin is ice-cold. Your smell is delicious, even though it matches mine. You are as beautiful as I believe myself to be. You taste so wonderful, so similarly to how so many of us taste. And the sound of you moaning my name is as beautiful as any song that could play on the radio. This is truly a love I do not want to give up. I don't want to ever be apart from you as our lips meet over and over again, and our bodies meld together, fire and ice. **

**But I know that this love is unrequited. We are not the same, so why are we together?**

**I forget that when your touch stirs feeling in me more potent than I've felt in a long time. Your closeness brings up memories of your kisses, your touches and the way you look at me. And I know that there is nothing I want more than you. **

**Chapter One**

_**Rosalie**_

"Tomorrow."

That was the one word that was said so many times I was getting sick of hearing it. Indeed, it was an important word recently. Everything had been bent on one day. Indeed, I did need to pay attention to it. But I was just so sick of hearing it verbalized. The only reason I didn't lose it this time—though I did grit my teeth in irritation—was the fact that my lover Emmett had said it. I smiled up at him. For us, tomorrow was promising.

It had been ten years since the Volturi had come at us, and life had been peaceful since. So much happiness surrounded us. Renesmee, my niece, and Jacob, my... dog, were beginning to develop feelings for each other, and though that wasn't something their parents liked. The relationship between them was almost as intimate as the way I felt about Emmett. Almost. Emmett and I's relationship had grown stronger, too, though I hadn't thought that possible beforehand.

Edward and Bella were so sickeningly-lovey-dovey that I couldn't stand to be within a mile of them. It was beautiful and annoying all at the same time. Jacob stared at Renesmee with almost the same devotion and love.

Alice and Jasper's relationship had improved, too. Now, where there were so many lies between them before, she told him everything. I remembered the night they'd sat in Alice's room, talking, and Alice had filled him in on everything she knew about herself—things we hadn't even known about her. Now, we knew, but we didn't exactly admit it, even though she knew we'd heard her speaking the truth. There were no lies between them now, which had helped them a lot. Alice hadn't had a negative vision in ten years.

No, that wasn't accurate. Alice had a negative vision a few days after the Volturi left. She saw Jane, planning to come back on her own—the witch had been upset because the Volturi had lost the battle. But eventually that possibility had faded, like their fear after the Volturi left. Nothing had been negative since then.

A couple days ago, Emmett and I had gotten married again. It was just _so fun _to walk down the aisle to him as people watched and applauded when we kissed. This time, the wedding had been smaller; Bella's family and the wolf pack had come, but they were really the only guests. The happiness within the pack was almost as tangible as ours. Most of them had imprinted by now, even little Seth, who'd found a pretty young girl named Ana. Seth and Ana were so happy it hurt. Well, it would have hurt if I wasn't just as happy as they were. When I'd walked down the aisle, my long, flowing white dress billowing in the wind, to Emmett, and read him my vows, which I'd written from my heart, and gotten to kiss him right in front of everybody—well, it was hard _not _to be happy with a fate like that.

We were leaving for our honeymoon tomorrow. We'd decided that we weren't going to tell everybody where we were going, and we weren't having a shotgun wedding, so we'd decided that we would leave tomorrow, but we'd needed to get our stuff together. Part honeymoon, part vacation. We were going to somewhere in South America, though I didn't know where. Emmett had refused to tell me—and honestly, I liked it better that way. I loved surprises.

Now, we lay in the bed, his corded, muscular arms wrapped tightly around me. Even though we were both immortal vampires and both of us were hard like stone, his touch still felt warm and soft, but it was probably only because we were the same. I would never know what true warmth and softness felt like again—I couldn't do what Edward had done. I had to respect him for what he'd done. It must've been hard not to kill Bella.

Now, Emmett played with a strand of my hair, his arms tightening around me. I loved it when he held me this tight—I could feel his impossibly large muscles against my back and the muscles of his hard abdomen against my behind. I sighed as he moaned into my ear. Sometimes it was like he was just asking to get tied down to a chair and done up until he screamed against it.

I'd fallen in love with him, but for a different reason. Sure, he was beautiful. His muscular body and cute face were all part of the reason I loved him. And it had only been lust at first, in those first few months when we'd only been friends, and later on sex buddies. But then I'd fallen in love with the person inside him—the nice, sweet, generous, funny, kind person that he truly was. And I was still in love with that person.

Emmett was my soul mate. There was no doubt about that. There was no one else on this earth I fit so perfectly with, and I knew he could sense that too. Maybe it went the same way for him, maybe it didn't. I didn't know. He told me he loved me all the time, but I didn't know if it was sincere or not. I wasn't a mind reader like Edward. I didn't really have any powers at all.

I imagined how the next few weeks would go. There would be no one else listening, no vampire ears there to hear us. We would truly be alone, alone to our thoughts and our bodies and our taste and our touch. Alone to do whatever we wanted to each other... A chill of desire rolled down my spine.

"Rose?" Em muttered.

"Hmm?"

"Do you ever wish... that Carlisle hadn't saved you?" I was surprised at the question. He knew how I felt about being a vampire; I detested it. I hated immortality with a passion. Emmett and I would never grow old together, have children and live a normal, happy life. The life I should've had, if it weren't for Royce. I gritted my teeth at the thought of his cold, sweaty hands against my skin. But, when I thought about it, Emmett was everything I wanted, and he was always what I would want. We were soul mates. I was glad, not for this extra lifetime, but that I'd gotten to share it with him.

"Of course. All the time." I shrugged. "But then I think that if I wouldn't have become a vampire, I would have lived without ever knowing you. And that's what makes me change my decision."

Em didn't say anything, but I could tell he was smiling. "I love you, Rose."

"I love you too, Em," I said.

"Tomorrow's gonna be epic." His body hummed with laughter. "I'm pretty sure we're gonna be worse than Edward and Bella."

"Way worse, babe," I muttered. "It's been so long..."

And it was true. The last time Emmett and I had had sex, Bella had still been human, though she had been pregnant with Renesmee. I shuddered to think about that, though carrying the little nudger had been what had made me like Bella.

"It's been freaking ten years since we had sex, Rose." Emmett's voice was serious, a sudden passion painting his words. "I'm sick of being so... abstinent. I want you."

I shuddered at the power in his words. "I want you, too," I said. "It's just... I'm always watching the baby while Bella and Edward get their time, and then everyone else is here all the time, so we don't really ever have any time to ourselves. And you know, technically we're supposed to wait till we're married." I laughed when I felt his body tense.

"We _are _married," he muttered. "We've been married eight times, Rose."

"Nine," I corrected. "Counting this time."

"I wasn't," he admitted.

"I know," I sighed.

"See, that's why I love you," he said, laughing. "You keep me sane—you make me feel so real. That's something I never felt with any other girl."

"We're supposed to be together," I whispered. "It's meant to be—like Edward and Bella."

I twisted my head around then, and our eyes met. Slowly, our lips met, and they moved in a passionate kiss. This kiss felt almost painful, agonizing because I knew that it would be hours before I could fully appreciate his glorious immortal body. I could feel his frustration and anger as his fingers knotted in my hair. He pulled me closer to him, and something about his touch felt almost frantic—like there was only so much time left to us. Like something was... wrong...

I gasped, choking as I broke the kiss. Emmett's eyes widened. I never broke the kisses. Usually, the kisses went on forever, or he broke them. Either way, I never broke them. Something was wrong, and he wanted to know what. The thing was, that was exactly what I was wondering.

"What's wrong, Rose?" he asked.

"I... I don't know. Something just felt really... weird for a second, like you weren't... you." I shuddered to remember the empty feeling.

"What do you mean?" He looked so beautiful that I stopped, momentarily distracted. His long eyelashes framed his golden eyes, which seemed to shine back at me. His lips were pursed, and his face was twisted in what looked like a grimace. "Tell me."

"I don't really know," I admitted. "It went away as quickly as it had come. But it was just like I was kissing a stranger for a second. That's never happened to me before."

"Huh," he muttered. "Well, let's hope it never happens again."

"Yeah, let's," I agreed. "I like you better when you're you."

"I like to be better as me, too," he said softly, laughing as his lips traced hungrily along my jaw line. "Let's get back to me."

"I love you, you," I murmured.

"I love me, too," he said. "But I love you more."

We kissed again and the kiss was so full of passion that I couldn't stand to end it this time.

_Alice_

I sat straight up in bed, my body going completely still. Jasper's lips stopped moving against my neck as his power picked up on the sharp, rapid change to my mood. He twisted his head around sharply so he could look at me. "Alice—what's wrong?"

"I... I... had a vision," I choked.

"What happened in the vision?" His voice was so strong, so reassuring, that I relaxed into his arms. His touch was not inherently warm, but it was warm enough. His arms were not as muscular as Emmett's, but they were muscular enough for me. I sighed at how secure and safe his touch made me feel.

"The Volturi," I whispered. "They're coming."

I felt his body go rigid. "When?"

"I don't know," I whispered. "The decision wasn't final, but I saw what's going to happen if they _do _come—Aro's been considering it a lot recently."

"Well, what happens if they _do _come?"

"This time, there _will _be a battle. Aro will come, and place a false accusation that he _knows _is false. Or maybe he'll be truthful with us. Then, a battle will take place. The Volturi want to destroy us—possess us." With a chill, I realized I was right. "They want Edward and I."

"Then they'll have to fight for you," Jasper snapped.

I kissed him first, surprising him with the fierceness of my lips. Then I used my vampire speed to spin around so that I was on top of him. The ripping of the fabric of our clothes sounded in my ears, but I was too absorbed in my pain to care. I needed this—needed Jasper—so badly that my desire for him overshadowed any other lingering desires. We were naked, and our bodies fit together perfectly, as always—like a puzzle piece. I moaned as he went inside me, and our connection grew even more effective.

"Oh, Jasper," I sighed as he pulled me closer to him, and we made love in an air of passion and fear.

**Hey, guys! How do you like this story? It's something new I'm trying. It is a sequel to BREAKING DAWN, and it does focus on life after the events of the final TWILIGHT book, but it doesn't focus exclusively on Renesmee, focusing more on the background Cullens who didn't get as much of a voice in the TWILIGHT SAGA, though Renesmee is one of the main characters. I write whoever I feel like writing at the moment, so you might even see a couple chapters of Edward and Bella. Who knows?**

**As for my other stories. BATTLED will be updated soon—I'm just not sure how soon. Same goes for SCREW BELLA. The rest of my stories are indefinitely on hold until I say they're off—I'm not feeling a lot of them right now, which equates to writer's block. Ugh. I hate it. Hopefully it goes away soon. **

** Love you guys! See you later!**

**XOXO,**

**Casey**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

_Bella_

I was not an entirely rational person in the mornings; they were slow for me, even as a vampire now. I was so used to sleeping in that it was still a little weird to stay awake all night, even though I'd been doing it for the greater part of four months now.

I wasn't tired, that much was clear. I had Edward, of course—his mouth over mine, his body on top of mine—and I had my daughter, Renesmee, who was with Rosalie and Jacob at the moment. The euphoria from ten years ago, when the Volturi had come to take her from me—and had not succeeded—hadn't faded yet. I was so happy it was almost dizzying, and it would be, were that kind of thing not impossible for a vampire.

"You ready to go see her?" I asked Edward. His laugh shook my body, and I kissed his forehead once more.

"Yes."

He tried to get out from under me, but I tightened my grip over his. He laughed again and let me playfully pin him to the bed, kissing his lips. His beauty did not fade when I became a vampire; if anything it had intensified. I could see him so much clearer now that the dimness of humanity had been removed from my eyelids.

"_You _were the one who wanted to see her," he reminded me, kissing my neck tenderly between words. "I would think that would show some type of eagerness to stop for the day."

"I didn't say I was eager," I pointed out. "It's very painful to be away from you, you know. You're not the only one who's in love."

He rolled his eyes, but otherwise said nothing as I stood, staring at his face. I would never forget it; if there was an afterlife for vampires, I was sure it was the first thing I would see when I crossed into the afterlife. I knew he knew I was right, because he could _see _how in love I was with him—all I had to do was show him the memories.

I dressed quickly. Since I'd become a vampire, I had stocked the closet with only clothes that were bearable enough to wear, only keeping some of the getups Alice had given me. I couldn't take it anymore one day, and put my foot down. Since then, Alice had only bought me clothes that I approved of.

After Edward had dressed reluctantly, we dashed toward the Cullen house. It was live with activity; I heard the buzzing from several miles away. I could distinguish half a second later that Jacob and Nessie were watching TV, and Nessie calling in her tinkling voice that she'd go hunting with Jacob later—she wasn't thirsty now. Alice agreed instantly. I smiled as we walked into the house. Even after four years, my Renesmee still had us wrapped in her fingers. It was a slight relief that Rosalie and Emmett had left on the trip yesterday, so they wouldn't have possession of her.

"Mom," Nessie called with relief, springing lightly forward and throwing her arms around me. In the ten years she'd grown from the size of a five year old to the size of an eighteen year old. Her powers had intensified; now she could show you her thoughts just by making contact with you. The power had moved to include her entire body. She could run as fast as us now, and her brown eyes had brightened a little, though they were still more of my brown then they were gold. Her reddish-brown curls had grown much longer, and now they fell in waves to her shoulders. She smiled, her perfectly white teeth seeming to sparkle as well as her skin in the midmorning sun. "Hey."

"Hello," I said, hugging her back, smiling. As soon as her skin touched mine I saw her thoughts. She'd missed me very much, and was contemplating going home until Alice had begged her to stay here. That thought made me grit my teeth.

"Hi, Dad," Renesmee said, detaching herself from me and throwing her arms around Edward. He smiled and breathed, "Hello, Nessie," into her hair. Nessie stayed in Edward's arms for a moment before springing back to Jacob on the couch. Jake grinned at us. "Hey, guys," he said.

Edward smiled. "Hi, Jake."

"Hey," I said absently. I was thinking about Jacob. The change in Jacob had begun as soon as I'd become a vampire, but he'd exponentially grown close with Edward in the years since the battle with the Volturi. The friendship between Jacob and Edward was almost mind-boggling, after seeing them hate each other for months before my transformation.

Alice sprung gracefully into the room, embracing me tenderly. "Nessie's been asking about you for hours. She really missed you."

Jasper was only a sixteenth of an inch away from her, grinning. "Hey, Bella. Hey, Edward. Finally came up for air?"

I fought back a hiss. It was intolerable for him to talk like that in front of Nessie, and it was unlike him—I would have expected it from Emmett, not him. But she didn't seem to notice. She was staring at the TV, her facial expression crumpled, her head resting on Jacob's chest. "Oh, no," she whispered.

I was on the couch before even a millisecond had passed, looking where she was. It was a news program about a young woman who had lost a child to miscarriage, and had almost lost her own life. She was currently in the hospital on the mend. When I saw the familiar face on the TV, I gasped.

Sue Clearwater was lying peacefully on the bed, eyes closed. It almost looked as though she were dead. A human wouldn't have been able to hear her heartbeat through the speakers, to see her chest rise and fall slightly, to tell she was alive, but I could. I saw Charlie sitting beside her bed, tears in his eyes. Why hadn't he called me?

"We have to go," I said through my teeth. "Carlisle didn't call?"

Alice shook her head. "Oh, calm down, Bella. Carlisle had just left. It wasn't like he was there when she was admitted. We do have to go."

Edward was silent throughout the whole exchange, his face crumpled in pain. "Alice… no," he whispered. "No. No, no, no."

"What did you see?" I knew that voice. Alice had seen something terrible, and I wasn't sure why she was so reluctant to share it. We kept no secrets from each other. Why shouldn't she be able to tell me?

"I don't see her dying," Alice said, directing her words only to Edward. "I only see her… unconscious."

"Coma?" he whispered.

"Coma," Alice nodded, a sad look in her eyes. She stared at Edward for a while. He nodded, answering some question in her head. She nodded just a tiny bit, took a deep breath, and turned to face me.

"I see Sue Clearwater in a coma," she said. "I can't see for sure whether she'll die; death isn't really a decision, unless one's committing suicide, but I'll watch for you, for Charlie…"

"But I thought she had a miscarriage…?"

"It was a false alarm," Alice reassured. "She's simply in a coma. However… I don't see her coming _out _of the coma any time soon—and her baby's due in just a month."

"Oh, no…" Jacob stood, his eyes wide. "We have to go. Come on," he said, pushing past Alice and Edward to the door. Nessie followed close behind, and I was even closer. I heard Edward's whispered, "Bella…" and then his footsteps were behind mine. Finally, I heard Alice fall in behind us.

We all loaded into my Ferrari—I would have liked to run, but it would have looked suspicious. I saw why Edward hadn't cared about speed when I was human. When you wanted to go somewhere, you drove as fast as you could. However, I couldn't press all of my might into the gas pedal, so I kept up a steady pace to the hospital.

The drive was short and silent. Jacob was stroking Nessie's hair—which I didn't mind, but I saw Edward gritting his teeth—and Alice's eyes were blank the entire time. I knew she wasn't having a vision. She was lost in thought, watching Sue, to see if something was happening to her.

When we reached the hospital, I saw Carlisle and Esme waiting by the door. As they saw my face in the driver's seat, they walked forward. Carlisle reached the driver's door. I rolled down the window. "Bella," he breathed. "Charlie's waiting for you."

I got out of the car. Charlie needed me, and I wanted to be there for him. "Are you coming, Edward?" I asked him as he stepped out of the car.

His golden eyes were soft. "Of course, Bella. I'll always be here for you," he said, his velvet voice soothing.

"I'm here for you, too, Mom," Nessie promised.

"Me, too," Jacob agreed.

"You know I'm here," Alice amended.

We walked into the hospital together. All eyes seemed to stray to us as we entered. I remembered the dank smell of hospitals, the smell of medicine and anesthetic. Carlisle led us to Sue's room without any kind of wait, or saying anything to the nurse at the front desk. When we arrived, the paleness of her face almost sent a chill of fear down my back. It looked like she was dead. Her skin was almost as pallor as a vampire's.

"Sue," I whispered.

Someone burst in the room. I spun around. It was Charlie. His face was just as white as Sue's. He stared down at her body. "No..." He whispered.

"Hey, Dad," I whispered.

"Hey, Bells," he said softly. "Is she..."

"She's in a coma," Alice said. "Car accident."

"I'm so sorry, Dad." I held Dad as he sobbed into my shoulder, and prayed to whatever gods were listening that Sue Swan would be okay.

_Carlisle_

I traced my hand along the corded definition of Esme's naked shoulder, my back arcing as my hand found the spot right above where her heartbeat should've been. But of course, there was no heartbeat there. Esme was a vampire, as was I. Many believed us damned, but I was beginning to believe the opposite.

Tonight we had the house to ourselves. Alice, Jasper, Rosalie and Emmett had gone out hunting, and Edward, Bella and Renesmee were home in their cottage after the stress of Sue's coma, leaving me and Esme in the house alone. At first we'd tried watching a movie together, like a normal, human couple would, but I hadn't been able to stop staring at her—watching her beautiful eyes as she watched me. Somehow we'd ended up in the beautiful white bed she'd bought to match the rest of the room. And you know the rest.

My tongue ran along Esme's breasts, watching how dazed her eyes were with intrigued amusement. "Ahh," she moaned as my tongue continued down to her chest. The sigh sent a chill of desire through me. Oh, how I loved it when she moaned that way.

"I love you, Esme," he whispered.

"I love you too, Carlisle." The words were moaned, but the truth of them pierced my chest like a knife. She loved me—me, and no one else. I was the one who she wanted.

"Of course," I whispered, and continued to make love to her.

...

In the morning, I heard a sound.

That wasn't anything unusual in a vampire house. It was how loud it was that was unusual. Animals roamed around our house often, but they didn't make so much noise. This didn't sound like any animal.

It was a person.

I tensed. Springing lightly from the bed, I ran toward the door. The sound was growing closer and closer to the house, and my vampire senses were going wild.

I opened the door.

"Carlisle?"

My mouth fell open, and I gasped. "It's you!"

It was Nahuel.

...

** Hey, guys! Here with the second chapter of Moonlight. This story is really a combination of all the Twilight fanfictions I've done over the years, magnified. How do you like it so far?**

** Chapter 3 should be up soon! See ya!**

**XOXO,**

**Casey**


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